


I Am Not Afraid (To Keep On Living)

by stuckinmybook



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Big Brother Diego Hargreeves, F/M, Hurt Klaus Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Klaus Hargreeves Needs Help, Klaus Hargreeves-centric, M/M, Protective Ben Hargreeves, Protective Diego Hargreeves, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:14:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 16,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23422249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stuckinmybook/pseuds/stuckinmybook
Summary: He always thought the ghosts wouldn’t be a problem if he couldn’t see.Well, maybe not completely. But, Klaus always thought that his powers would be easier to handle if it wasn’t for his basic senses. If he couldn’t see the ghastly figures, then they wouldn’t bother him as much, right?He never thought that he would actually get a chance to prove or disprove his thoughts.
Relationships: Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Dave/Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves/Eudora Patch, Eudora Patch & Klaus Hargreeves
Comments: 41
Kudos: 447





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first piece of fanfiction! Thoughts and tips are always appreciated.

He always thought the ghosts wouldn’t be a problem if he couldn’t see.

Well, maybe not completely. But, Klaus always thought that his powers would be easier to handle if it wasn’t for his basic senses. If he couldn’t see the ghastly figures, then they wouldn’t bother him as much, right? 

He never thought that he would actually get a chance to prove or disprove his thoughts. Honestly, the thoughts were only ever at the back of his mind and never seriously considered. But, of course, chance never really went his way. 

It started with a cold winter’s night. He’d already spent the rest of his money on a nice little bag of goodys. The little white and beige pills sat happily in his pocket, while he shivered harshly in the flurry-filled cold. 

“You have to find somewhere to go!” Ben insisted for the third time as he shuffled down the sidewalk. 

“I have. It’s called an alley behind a dumpster. I’m headed there now,” he bit out around chattering teeth. Ben groaned in frustration. 

“An actual building with actual heat, idiot,” he retorted. Klaus flapped his hand. 

“To-ma-to, to-mah-to.” Klaus snorted at his own joke, which ended with a harsh cough. Ben shook his head. Suddenly, he stopped and Klaus walked right through him. “Hey!”  
“There’s someone following us.” Ben announced quietly. Klaus, ever the one to be subtle, immediately halted his steps and looked around. Of course, that’s when the other person decided to make themselves known. 

“Hey, freak. Wanna share whatever you’re one?” They called out, still lingering somewhere behind them. Klaus spun around wildly, looking for the source. A figure emerged from the shadows of a nearby building, eyes desperate. 

“I’m not the selling type,” Kaus said, waving his “hello” hand out. “I’m better at the payment part of it all.” 

“Is that so?” The stranger came closer, eyes raking over Klaus. He reached a hand out to his coat, smoothing a hand over the cheap fur trim. “I guess you could say that you look rather… hot.” 

“Moi?” He fluttered his eyelashes, hoping that the man was simply looking for a good time. His blood turned cold as the man smiled, the grin of a predator. 

“Yes, you!” The man suddenly lashed out, slashing something through the air. Klaus tried to jump out of the way, but failed. A searing pain flashed over his face. A strangled sound escaped his throat as he stumbled back. His eyes burned so hard that he couldn’t open them. The man grabbed his arm and wrangled him to the ground. Klaus could hear Ben in the background yelling his name, but couldn’t bring himself to do anything but submit to the man as he fell to his knees. Suddenly, the man yanked the coat off of his back, leaving him to topple over onto the pavement. He felt one final kick to the side and then nothing. 

“Klaus? Talk to me, please. He’s gone-he’s gone. You can- just talk to me, please,” Ben begged, closer than he was before. Klaus shook his head pitfullily. 

“It hurts,” he whined. Gingerly, he sat up and brought his hands up to his eyes. He felt fresh blood coating his face, but couldn’t seem to find the source. Ben made a noise of distress. 

“Your eyes…” He made another pained noise. “Klaus, we have to get help.” 

“Little hard for that right now, Benny.” Klaus struggled to find some type of purchase to get to his feet. Feeling disoriented, he fell back to the sidewalk. “Wonder how long it will take for someone to come by?” 

“Too long,” Ben said, sounding more and more frustrated. “Way too long for how much you’re bleeding.” 

“S’fine,” Klaus managed, even as he started to feel lightheaded. The lack of sight and pain felt like too much. Thankfully, Ben was wrong. 

“Hello? What the hell?” A woman approached Klaus, looking cautious. She knelt in front of him, hand hovering over his ankle. “Sir? Can you hear me?”

“Hmm, yep,” Klaus breathed out. “Got jumped. Help?”

The woman came closer, eyes scanning Klaus’s face and hands jumping up to hover over it. She pulled a police radio out of her pocket and spoke some words into it, relaying their location and asking for an ambulance. Once finished, she wrapped a hand around Klaus’s wrist. “I’m Eudora. I’m a detective with the police department. Help should be on its way shortly. What hurts?” 

“M’ face.” As if to emphasize, a wave of pain shot through his eyes. He flinched, which just made him realize how tender the rest of his body felt. How hard had he fallen? “A lot.” 

“I’m sorry, hun. Help should be here soon and they can do something about the pain, okay?” She gently patted his cheek. He brought his hand up and grabbed her hand. 

“Sorry,” He mumbled. “Jus’ feel all…” 

“Just stay with me, okay?” Her words came out strained. “What’s your name?”

“Klaus,” he slurred. “Hargreeves.” 

She cursed. “Hargreeves?” 

“Yeah.” He struggled to remember why that might be important. Everything felt fuzzy around the edges, even though he couldn’t see. The familiar feeling of falling unconscious was sneaking up on him. 

“I know a Hargreeves. He’s pretty stubborn.” Her words sounded far away. He opened his mouth to say a reply, but suddenly the darkness swallowed him up.


	2. There's Nothing I Can Say to Change (That Part)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This is my first published work so I would really appreciate some feed backs. Thank you <3

Beeping was the first thing that he became aware of. It seemed simultaneously far-away and close at the same time. The next thing he felt was an odd heaviness to his head, bulking and awkward. Everything else felt light, almost like he was floating. Was he floating? He couldn’t tell. Maybe he had finally bit the bullet. 

He stayed that way for a while, just both light and heavy and decidedly not alive. He felt at peace, laying back and simply not really existing. But, as is usual with him, nothing good can last. The weightlessness began to fade into a soft bed and the beeping became louder and louder. The heaviness of his head began something more akin to pain. Eventually, that pain spiked and he groaned, surfacing. 

“Klaus?” A familiar voice asked beside him. Klaus tried to blink his eyes open but found that he couldn't. He reached up, clumsily patting his face with his hand. Another hand stopped him. “Careful, Klaus. I wouldn’t do that.” 

“Diego?” He croaked, throat dry. He tried to swallow and ended up choking. What he believed to be a straw soon poked his lips. He drank greedily. 

“It’s Diego. How do you feel?” Klaus opened his mouth to answer, but Diego cut him off. “W-w-w-wait, I should probably call the nurse. H-hang on.”

Klaus heard rustling and a beep. He longed to open his eyes and orient himself. What was happening? He had no idea and it just made his already fuzzy head worse. After a few moments spent struggling with his uncertainty, a pair of feet came tapping into the room. On instinct, he turned his head toward the sound. 

“Hi, honey. I”m Carol, your nurse. How are you feeling?” A warm voice asked near him. Gentle hands lightly came to rest on his forearm. It was strangely comforting. 

“Confused,” He said. “What’s going on? Where am I? Why can’t I see?”

Diego grunted. “Klaus…” 

“Klaus, honey, you’re in the hospital,” The nurse started. She moved her hand away from his forearm. “There was an… accident. Do you remember that?” 

Klaus tried to think. He distantly remembered some type of pain and a feminime voice floating him into unconsciousness. He relayed that to the nurse. 

“That was Eudora,” Diego spoke up. “She’s my… I know her. She’s a friend.” 

It was quiet for a few moments. Klaus could feel the nurse fiddling with things around him, but couldn’t quite tell exactly what she was doing. He couldn’t stand not being able to tell what was going on around him. Sure, he was used to feeling a little out of the loop with the people around him after popping a few magic pills, but this was different. He felt alone. 

“Is that all you remember?” Carol asked. Her voice carried a strange gentleness to it, just like her actions had since she came in. Another thing that felt alien to Klaus. Most nurses treated him with distance, just as sterile as their gloves. He didn’t want to think about what that meant for him, but he had a feeling that he didn’t really have a choice. 

“Just… pain. Be- ah, someone trying to help, I guess? Should I?” He remembered Ben yelling at him to get help… not that it did much. 

“You were attacked,” Diego burst out. “It w-w-was bad. You were laying on the-the street. They got your face.” 

“So, that’s why I can’t see,” Klaus laughed, almost hysterical. “I thought I might have gone blind. Whew, that would have been bad.” 

It was quiet for a moment before Klaus heard a crash from Diego’s direction. Heavy footsteps followed, trailing out the door. A knot formed in his throat. 

“Klaus, honey…” That gentle hand danced over his arm again before settling in the same spot as before. “Your attacker slashed your face when you were attacked. Your eyes have been severely damaged. We haven't been able to run the full tests yet with you being out, but it’s highly likely that your vision has been damaged.” 

Klaus let out another laugh, definitely hysterical this time. “So, I am blind, huh? That’s just fucking fantastic! Amazing!” 

“Klaus…” Carol sounded worried. 

“Can I just be alone, please? I need to let all this fester a bit, okay? Like a good infection.” he laughed again. “I guess I need to worry about that too, huh? Wouldn’t want to add death to the diagnosis, would I?” 

“I guess I could go get the doctor for you. She’ll need to run some tests. Press this button if you need anything, okay?” She moved his hand to a large raised button on the side of the bed. Klaus imagined that it was red and glowing. With a final pat on the arm, she left the room. After a few moments, Klaus heard his saving grace (as he was hoping). 

“Hey. It’s Ben.” The voice was quiet and to his left, opposite of where Diego had been. At the words, a soft sob burst out without permission. The area around his eye began to sting harshly. 

“Hey.” He said thickly. He tried to swallow down the rest of his tears. They  _ hurt. _ “Christ on a cracker, that hurts.” 

“What’s wrong?” Ben’s voice got closer. “Wait. The slashes…” 

“Yup.” There was another bout of silence. Klaus had a feeling that awkward silences would be a thing for him from then on. “I guess this makes you my seeing-eye ghost, huh?” 

“This isn’t a joke, Klaus. You can’t just make jokes about this and make it go away. It doesn’t work like that. It’s serious,” Ben chided. Klaus shook his head, anger rising in his throat despite the dizziness that the movement caused. 

“You’re not the one that’s blind, Ben.” 

“A little hard to be blinded when you’re dead.” 

“Oh playing the dead card. Real original."

“Klaus-” 

The door opened and Ben went quiet. Other people had never stopped Ben from talking before. Odd. 

“Sorry, bro.” It was Diego. His heavy shoes thumped against the floor as he walked back to his previous spot. There was a small sound as he righted the chair. Klaus could feel the waves of anger as he settled in beside him. “I-I-I…” 

“It’s alright,” Klaus gingerly reached out a hand to find Diego. “I understand your big bad anger issues. I guess I don’t need any other angry guy with a knife around me right now, huh?” 

“Klaus.” Diego sounded pained. “I need you to take this seriously. God, if you’re even able to do that.”

“Hey, I resent that,” he protested immediately. Diego grunted, shuffling in his seat. Klaus didn’t need his sight to know that he probably had something sharp in his hand, using it as a security blanket of sorts. 

“Just proving my point, bro.” For once, Klaus was the quiet one. 

“If I’m serious…” He started, timid to show any amount of  _ real  _ around his sibling. “Then maybe it’s actually happening?” 

“Klaus…” Diego sounded even more angry. Ben repeated his name in the same tone. Klaus crossed his arms and slid down the uncomfortable hospital bed. 

“Just forget it. I don’t want to talk right now, okay? Just leave me alone.” Diego listened.

They sat in silence. 


	3. Where's Your Heart?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe I'm posting another chapter today. Thanks for the comments! It means a lot to see your encouragement!

Apparently, he had been in the hospital for a few days, unconscious. His doctor, Dr. Elliot, explained something about the body shutting down and fighting against the damage to a vital organ. Klaus tried to listen and absorb everything that the doctor was explaining, but the longer he stayed awake the fuzzier he felt. The lack of sight and pain made him feel dizzy and nauseated. He hoped Diego or Ben could help him later if he missed anything important. 

“Klaus?” Dr. Elliot said loudly. He flinched, fighting the urge to shake his head and clear it. “Do you understand?” 

“Yep, definitely, yeah.” He heard Diego scoff; he could imagine the eye rolls that likely followed. “Wait, sorry, no. I didn’t hear you? I feel kinda… sick.” 

Dr. Elliot tsk-ed. “Dizzy? Sick to your stomach? What’s your pain, 1-10?” 

“Uh,” he mumbled, a little overwhelmed. “Yes? Like a… 8?” 

“Okay. I’ll give you something for the nausea. I’m afraid you’re at your threshold for the pain meds with your history of substance abuse. We don’t want to worsen that on top of the other issues. You’re not due for another hour for more meds but… I suppose I can give you another dose in about half an hour.” She paused for a moment, pen scratching on paper. “For you to heal, you’re gonna have to be honest with us, hun. You have to let us know what you’re feeling so I can help you. Any other complaints?” 

“It’s really hard to concentrate right now?” Why did everything he said feel like a question. He cleared his throat. “Everything feels fuzzy, like everything is out of focus. Which, I guess is weird because I can’t see anything…” 

“That sounds normal. Between just waking up and lacking an important sense, you’re definitely going to be feeling off. You will probably go to sleep again after your medicine hits your system. Let me know if it gets worse, though. It should improve after you get more rest and become more adjusted.” She paused again. “I’m going to let you rest for the afternoon before we go over anything else and begin testing. Is that alright with you?” 

Klaus began to nod again but stopped as a rush of dizziness washed over him. He groaned lightly, swallowing. “Fine. That’s fine.” 

“Carol will be back shortly with your medicines.” Dr. Elliot lightly patted his hand between clicking out of the room. Klaus took a deep breath, trying to quiet the rolling of his stomach. Diego’s chair creaked. 

“Here,” Diego said. “Drink some water.” 

He drank from the offered cup gingerly. He was a little afraid that the liquid would come back up if he pushed too hard. The cool water helped with the dizziness, however, so he supposed it did its job. 

“Thanks,” He said quietly once he was finished. There was a small  _ clink  _ as he set the cup down. Klaus wondered if his hearing was already heightened. Or maybe it was in his head. 

“Did you hear any of what she said?” Diego asked, sounding oddly soft. Klaus was beginning to resent how everyone seemed to be walking on eggshells. 

“Nope! Not really. I think she said something about resting because of my ‘harm done to a serious organ’ or something like that? Nothing important.” He fumbled down the side of the bed, wondering which button would move him into a better sitting position. 

“Two buttons to your left,” Ben spoke up. “That one will move your back up.” 

He hummed his thanks and pushed the button. The electronic buzz went straight through his head, the movement bringing his dizziness back. He stopped almost immediately. His hand went to his stomach as it rolled painfully. 

“Bro?” Diego rested a hand on his arm. “You alright?” 

“Peachy,” He gritted out. “Stop hovering.” 

Diego huffed. “I’m not hovering. Just don’t want you blowing chunks everywhere. No one needs to see that. I especially don’t want to.  _ I’m not hovering, okay?” _

“Defensive, much?” Ben grumbled. Klaus snorted. 

Neither said anything for a few moments. Just as Klaus opened his mouth to let out a sarcastic apology, Carol came bustling in. There were clangs as she set down instruments onto what must have been a metal table beside Klaus. She babbled lightly about the medicines she was giving him and what they did. She probably asked him some questions, but he lost focus almost as soon as he felt the rush of cold enter his veins. Before he knew it, the background chatter faded to nothing and he was asleep. 

* * *

“Yes or no?” 

“No.” 

“Yes or no?” 

“Uh… no.” 

“Nothing?” 

"Sadly, I 'm not looking into the light.” 

And it continued for a half an hour. Klaus had already gone through two tests with Dr. Elliot to determine whether his sight was diminished. She hadn’t declared anything yet, but Klaus had yet to leave his veil of black. Diego hadn’t been able to stay past the first five minutes of the first test. So much for solitude. At least Ben had resumed his normal sarcastic comments, even though it came across as a little forced. Klaus hoped this was the last test for now. He voiced so. 

“That was the last test that we can do today. With your injuries, I am afraid that we will only have a tentative diagnosis for now. Let’s get you back to your room and we will discuss everything, okay?” Dr. Elliot told him. She unlocked his wheelchair and pushed him out of the testing room. She called out to a different nurse from before and he was whisked back to his room. 

“Here we are,” The nurse told him brightly as they finally reached his room. “Let’s get you back into your bed.” 

“Diego?” He called out. 

“No one else is here,” The nurse told him. He couldn’t help but feel disappointed. “Up you go!” 

He squeaked as the nurse lifted him swiftly onto the bed. “T-thanks.” 

“No problem, sweetheart,” The other man told him. For all the muscles he just showed off, he was very gentle as he pulled the blanket back over his legs. “All set?” 

“You must be strong,” Klaus blurted. Immediately, he felt his cheeks redden. “I mean- you must have a lot of muscle. Because, you know, you lifted me so easily.”

The responding laugh made his cheeks darken further. “I suppose so.” 

“I’m sorry. I’m not usually this quirky,” Klaus told him. Ben snorted beside him. 

“You invented quirky, Klaus.” Ben murmured. Klaus would have fired something back, but Ben’s tone left out the bite. Well, that and the definitely attractive nurse helping him. 

“It’s okay. Are you settled in?” 

“I think I’m alright. Just wondering where my brother is,” Klaus told him. 

“Diego’s your brother?” Klaus nodding, glad to be able to again without feeling like shit. “Well… do you need some company?” 

Was he offering to spend time with him? “Is he trying to stay?” Ben must have thought the same thing. 

“Uh, yes?” Klaus coughed. “If you don’t have anywhere to be…?” 

“Well, I can’t just leave you by yourself, can I? You might get lonely without your brother,” The nurse told me. The chair creaked as he sat down. “I’m Dave, by the way. Probably should have said that before now.” 

“I’m Klaus,” He said. Dave laughed again. Klaus could keep talking forever if he kept receiving that laugh. 

“I know.” He blushed further. 

“Alright, Dave. Tell me about yourself.” 

So he did. Dave told him about his younger sisters and single mother. He told Klaus about his Jewish upbringing and his struggles with it when he realized he was gay. How his family also struggled when he came out but they had their own love for him in the end. Dave stopped every few minutes to make sure he wasn’t talking too much, but Klaus didn’t want to be the one chattering this time. 

After some time, Dr. Elliot came into the room. “I see you’re keeping Klaus some company, Dave.” 

“I made him!” Klaus said quickly. He didn’t want Dave to be in trouble. “I’m sorry to keep him.” 

“It’s fine, Klaus,” Dave said. “I was just keeping him company. I’ll visit again, sometime. If that’s okay with you?” 

“I’ll see you then.” Klaus laughed at his own joke. He got a tense laugh from Ben and a surprised one from Dave. The door clicked closed and he was left with just Ben and Dr. Elliott. 

His stomach dropped. His diagnosis. 


	4. I Get So Weak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed up the point a view a little bit for this one! I want to thank Siriuspiggyback for helping out with this chapter. All of your comments make me very happy. Thanks for the love!

Diego hadn’t seen Klaus without his bandages on yet. 

He definitely didn’t expect it to look like  _ that. _

His eyes were swollen, looking like he had been punching over and over by someone  _ very  _ angry. There were oddly straight, red slashes crossing from one side of his face to the other. The worst parts were near where his eyelids met and over the bridge of his nose. He could see small stitches holding the lines together. Diego had, obviously, seen a lot of knife wounds. This one was one of the most gruesome slashes that he had seen, a fact not helped by Klaus being his baby brother. It had been odd enough that Klaus had seemed to lose his liveliness. As Diego walked into the room and looked at Klaus, he felt like he was looking at a stranger. 

“H-h-hey, bro,” He called out instead of focusing on his face. He rattled the paper bag clutched in his hand. “I brought Gridy’s.” 

Klaus smiled lightly. The smile, like the rest of what Klaus had done since waking up the first time, felt off. Like Klaus had finally been beaten down once too many. Diego shook off that thought. 

“Thank you,” Klaus said after Diego took too long to reply. “I suppose I can forgive you for dipping out for the afternoon.” 

“Yes, you can,” Diego said instead of feeling guilty. “I also brought a fr-fr-friend.” 

“Ohhh,” Klaus laughed. “Is it a ladyfriend?”

Klaus tried to wag his eyebrows, but broke off the movement with a small gasp. His hands twitched, waving his hand away from Diego. 

“M-m-maybe. She is a l-l-lady, so I guess that m-makes her a ladyfriend. She’ll be up in a few minutes. She said she needed to stop by s-s-somewhere.” Diego hated how much his stutter had resurfaced today. Damn feelings, getting in the same of his stupid words. “Want a doughnut now?”

“Nope,” Klaus said a bit too quickly. His head jerked slightly and he huffed. “Sorry. No, thanks. Feeling a little… you know.” 

“Should I-I-” Diego took a breath. Fuck. “Do you need Dr. Elliot?” 

“Not right now.” His head cocked to the side. “She just left a few minutes ago.” 

They were quiet for a moment. Klaus seemed to sink against the pillows harder. Diego wondered what Dr. Elliot had said while he was gone. Whatever it was, it seemed to have hit Klaus hard. Diego decided not to mention it. 

“Where’s all your, uh,” Diego started to ask. “Your…” 

“Ah, my  _ face coverings, _ ” Klaus waved his hands out weakly. “Doc wanted to air out the wounds for a bit. Carol will be back soon to put them back on.” 

“Oh,” Diego said. He didn’t know what else to say. He’d felt like that all day. Unsure of what to say and what to do around Klaus. It was one of the reasons he asked Eudora to come. Well, he didn’t really have to ask. She had been asking about him basically since she sent him off in the ambulance. 

As if summoned by his thoughts she appeared in the doorway. She stopped short, taking in Klaus with sympathy in her eyes. She held a small teddy bear that was fuzzier than any other he had seen before. It was also bright pink. He knew Klaus would love it. 

“Hey, Dora.” Her eyes finally tore away from Klaus’s face. She frowned at him, looking strangely angry. Klaus looked confused until she started walking toward the bed. He turned toward the sound slowly, throwing on a loose smile. It still didn’t look right. 

“So you’re the lady friend,” He said. “How’d he rope you into coming to see little ole me?” 

Eudora laughed indulgently. “Hi, Klaus.” 

Klaus stiffened, face whitening. His hands curled into fists, clutching the sheets tightly. A low whine fell out of his throat. “You-” 

Without thinking, Diego reached out and gripped one of Klaus’s hands. Automatically, Klaus wrapped his hand around Diego’s instead of the blanket. Eudora looked at them both with wide eyes. 

“Eudora found you,” He told Klaus gently. Klaus tightened his grip. 

“I know your voice,” Klaus said after a moment, voice wobbling. “It’s, uh… it’s actually the only thing I remember besides the pain.” 

“Oh, hun,” She said. “I’m so glad that I found you when I did.”

“Thank you,” Klaus whispered. His hand began to shake in Diego’s. A tear dripped down his cheek and he gasped. He mouthed something inaudible as a few more tears slipped out. 

Diego wasn’t sure what to do. He looked at Eudora for some help, but she seemed just as lost. After a moment of debating, Diego decided to push the red-lit button that called for a nurse. Carol came bustling in shortly after. 

“Uh-oh,” She frowned as she took in the scene. “You two, out.” 

They looked at each other, then quickly stood. Klaus’s grip became surprisingly lax at the command. Diego gently slipped from his hand and he left the room with Eudora. Outside the room, they looked at each other without saying anything. After a moment, she pushed the stuffed bear toward him. 

“He didn’t even get to meet Mr. Bubbles.” She looked at him with sad, serious eyes. He broke. 

Laughter burst from his throat, strangled with a mix of disbelief, amusement, and desperation. Eudora looked slightly alarmed at the forcefulness of it. She rubbed his shoulder, letting him lean into her as he laughed. It felt nice to let out some of the tension he felt, even though the laughs started to feel more like sobs. He turned away, gripping the raised door frame tightly. 

“I think we should come back tomorrow,” Eudora told him quietly. He nodded jerkily. She grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the nurse’s desk. She asked one of the nurses to let Carol know that they were leaving, trying to give Klaus space. He agreed and they were on their way. 

  
  
  


Klaus hated feeling like this. He had experienced plenty of panic attacks before, mostly courtesy of good ole Reggie or something that reminded him of the mausoleum. This one was different. The pain from his panicked breathing was far overshadowed from the pain in his head. His eyes and nose  _ hurt  _ from moving his face too much. In all of his years at the academy and on the streets, he had never felt this kind of pain before. It stung and stole his breath in a way different than his panic. It made his head spin and his stomach clench in rebellion. 

Carol was beside him, trying to calm him. She had him sitting forward while she rubbed gentle circles on the small of his back. He wanted to be able to say something, to push away anyone living from witnessing his weakness. Ben was the only one who had ever helped when he was like this, besides little Five before he had run away. It didn’t feel right to let her help. 

“Honey, you have to let me help,” She cooed as if she could read his thoughts. Maybe he had said something out loud. He tended to do that sometimes. 

“Hurts.” He forced the words past his chattering lips. She leaned forward for a moment, but came back quickly. She clicked her tongue. 

“You’re nearly due for some more pain medicine, but not quite yet. It shouldn’t be hurting this bad before you get a new dose…” She trailed off. “Let’s get you calmed down first, okay?”

Klaus nodded, wrapping his arms around himself. It usually helped when he was by himself with Ben trying to help next to him. Carol continued to rub soothing circles on his back, murmuring comforts to him. After a few minutes, his breathing came a bit easier. The pain in his chest eased and the tears slowed to a stop. Tired, he slumped back against his pillows. 

“Better?” Carol asked. She tapped the side of his mouth with a straw. He sipped the water gratefully. 

“Yeah, thanks,” He whispered, throat slightly hoarse. “Sorry about… all that.” 

“It’s okay, honey,” She told him. “You’re alright. You’re not the first person that I’ve helped with something like that.” 

“Still embarrassing…” He drew in a heavy breath. “Did Dr. Elliot tell you yet?”

“She said that the tests were inconclusive with your swelling,” Carol told him gently. “Is that what this is about? That you might be blind?” 

“A little.” He paused. “My brother came back and brought his ladyfriend with him. She… she’s the one that found me that night. I don’t know what happened but, when she spoke, I just felt like I was back there. I remembered a bit more.”

“And that scared you?” She asked. 

“Maybe? I’m not sure. I-I just know that all I could do… I could only think about the pain and what would have happened if she hadn’t been walking by. I-” He cut off. “I feel sick.” 

“Here.” She shoved something under his chin just in time for her to expel the little that sat in his stomach. She rubbed his shoulder through it, muttering more comforts. 

“Sorry,” He told her once he finished. She tsk-ed, leaving his side for a moment. 

“Don’t be. You can’t help it, honey. I’ll be back soon with some more medicine, okay?” She patted his hand. “Take this in case you’re sick again. I’ll send your brother back in to sit with you, okay?” 

“Thank you,” He whispered. She left the room, feet taping. 

He waited for Diego’s heavy footsteps. They didn’t come. 


	5. Bright Lights That Cast a Shadow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like this chapter! I wanted something a bit more light hearted than the last chapter. Let me know what you think.

Of all of the things that he had been through since he woke up, Klaus probably hated this ritual the worst. 

It was the fourth time since he had woken up the morning before that one of the nurses had administered a plethora of eye drops into his eyes. He couldn’t keep up with how many they did, nor did he even want to ask. He had always hated anyone touching his eyes and had therefore always avoided any type of eyedrops. Grace once had to forcefully hold him down to give him just one drop in one of his eyes. So, despite the nurses promising that the drops were meant to help (and they did, admittedly, make his eyes feel better afterwards), he absolutely hated it. 

“Klaus, honey, just one more,” Carol told him gently. He groaned turning his head away as searing tears dripped down his cheeks. A part of him felt bad being rude to the nurse that had been his savior since he had woken, but his moral integrity paled in comparison to his discomfort. “C’mon.” 

She eventually got his eyes facing the correct way. She swiftly gave him the last drops and left him to sulk. She bustled around the room while he composed himself. After a few minutes, he announced his apology for his behavior and told Carol that he was ready for Dave and Eudora to come in. She patted his cheek and told him not to worry. 

“Hey, bro,” Diego said as he entered the room. From the sound of their footsteps, Diego went to his left and Eudora to his right. Suddenly, he found something very soft on his lap. He grabbed it, rubbing his hands over velvety fur. Ben snorted at his feet. 

“Hi!” Eudora said quickly. “Meet Mr. Bubbles. I got him for you yesterday.” 

“Thank you,” Klaus told her, smiling shyly. “He’s very soft.” 

“And pink,” Diego added gruffly. Klaus hummed and tucked the stuffed animal beside him. 

There was a moment of silence. Ben spoke up. “They look like they’re trying to figure out what to say.” 

‘So,” Klaus immediately said to feel in the awkward silence. “Were you in cop school together?”

“Klaus,” Diego groaned. Eudora laughed, the sound laced with something that Klaus couldn’t quite place. 

“We were supposed to graduate in the same class,” Eudora answered. Klaus grinned. 

“That’s even better than high school sweethearts. How cute,” he coo-ed. Diego groaned again, but didn’t protest. 

“Damn,” Ben laughed. “He’s going easy on you today.” 

“I know,” Klaus said. 

  
  


“You know what?” Diego asked. 

Oops. “I know… that you two are definitely being party poopers right now, even with Mr. Bubbles over here.” He patted the stuffed animal. 

“Oh.” Eudora sounded a little disappointed. 

Thankfully, Klaus was saved from feeling any guilt from his slip-up by Carol coming back into the room. “Hello, dears. Just here to re-bandage Klaus’s eyes. Excuse me.” 

The other two quickly made way for her to work with Klaus. Klaus felt strangely awkward as he sat there, letting Carol work on his face. Usually, a sense of shame was far from his mind. But, sitting there with a near-stranger and his burly brother, he felt like he needed to hide. 

“Does that feel okay, honey? Too tight?” Klaus nodded silently. “Too tight?” 

“It’s fine,” Klaus told her. She patted his cheek.    
  


“Alright. Your lunch will be here shortly. Do you need anything else?” He shook his head. “Okay! You know what to do if you need anything.” 

Carol padded out of the room, leaving it silent. Klaus wondered idly if he would have been better off without his hearing. At least then the awkward silences wouldn’t be quite so bad. He made a mental note to bring it up once Ben stopped being so weird around him. 

“Do you want us to get anything for you, Klaus?” Eudora asked. He shrugged. 

“Not exactly like I can do my eyeliner or anything.” Eudora hummed. 

“What about some nail polish?” She suggested. “I can do it for you.” 

Klaus found he didn’t know how to reply. How could she possibly want to do something for him? She didn’t even know him. Even if she did, Klaus was sure that she wouldn’t even really like him. 

She took his pause the wrong way. “Or not, I guess? I just thought…” 

“No!” Klaus interrupted her quickly. “That would be- that would be very nice. What colors do you have?” 

“Oh.” He could hear the smile in her voice. “I have a few. What’s your favorite to wear?” 

“Black. And purple. Anything that you have works, though.” Klaus found himself smiling shyly back. 

“Black and purple it is. We’ll bring it in tomorrow, okay?” She lightly patted his arm. 

“You don’t have to come everyday, you know?” Klaus told them. Diego scoffed. 

“Who else would?” He said in a light voice. Klaus shrang back at the words, knowing that they were true yet feeling hurt by the words. 

“Diego!” Eudora seemed upset by them as well. 

“What? It’s true!” He protested. 

“It is,” Klaus told her, voice carefully light. “Anyone else that would come would probably just steal my morphine.”

“You’re not even getting real morphine,” Diego informed him. Klaus pointed in his general direction. 

“Exactly!” Eudora laughed incredulously. 

“Boys.” 

“Hey.” Klaus pointed toward her now. “I am not a boy. Or a girl. I’m kind of… in-between?”

“Alright- folks!” She laughed again. Klaus liked the sound. She seemed like a very kind-hearted person. 

He hoped it lasted. 


	6. Honey If You Stay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been forever y'all! Sorry about the huge delay in posting. I actually bought a house! Life has been very busy. 
> 
> Anyway this chapter is a little different. I wanted to show a bit of Ben and Diego being brotherly. Poor Klaus :(  
> Let me know what you think! Your comments completely fuel me.

Ben hated being dead. Of course, most ghosts did. No one wanted to be dead, right? But, sitting next to a crying and blind Klaus, he wanted nothing more than to reach out and comfort his brother. Being dead made him feel more helpless than ever. 

“You need to call for Carol. She can help you,” Ben told him. Klaus shuddered out a wheezy sob in reply. “Please, Klaus. I can’t… I can’t do anything to help you right now.” 

“N-no one can, Ben. I’m fucking blind!” Klaus made a keening noise in the back of his throat. Ben flinched. Klaus was going to end up passing out if he kept hyperventilating like that. Not that he could do anything to stop him. Klaus wouldn’t listen anyway. 

“Could you just fucking swallow your pride and ask for help?” Ben snapped. “Even if I wasn’t a ghost, you won’t actually say what’s fucking wrong! Not even to the nurses.” 

“It doesn’t matter,” Klaus wheezed. “I’m not gonna waste someone’s time with- with” 

He cut off, leaning forward. Ben had watched him recover from a bad trip enough to know when he was about to throw up. Ben looked away as the noise of retching filled the room. Klaus needed help and he wouldn’t ask for it! He didn’t know whether he wanted to hug Klaus or throttle him. 

Finally, an alarm from one of the machines that he was hooked up to began sounding. Klaus continued to be sick and Carol bustled into the room. She frowned at the sight in front of her. 

“Oh dear,” She murmured. She wrapped a light arm around him, holding him up and steady. Ben’s heart ached as Klaus leaned into the embrace, making the same distressed noises from before. Carol shushed him quietly. “It’s okay, hun. It’s okay.” 

“It hurts. It hurts. Make it- make it stop, please.” Carol’s frown deepened. 

“He’s in pain! Help him!” Ben yelled aimlessly. Carol got to work as if she had heard him. She swept Klaus’s sick bin away. After checking his equipment, she pushed a few buttons and grabbed his wrist. 

“What hurts, honey? Is it just your eyes?” She counted heartbeats and checked her watch and she spoke. Klaus didn’t answer. “Now, why is your heart rate quite so elevated?”

“It hurts,” Is the only thing Klaus said. Carol shook her head. 

“I need to come back with the doctor, okay? I’ll be right back.” With that, she left the room. 

“Klaus,” Ben said. He flinched. “You have to calm down. You’re gonna make your heart explode or something. You’ve gotta calm down.” 

His words didn’t do anything, of course. He could only watch as the heart rate on his monitor kept climbing. Thankfully, Carol came bustling back in not long after, followed by the doctor. The doctor listened to his lungs and heart for a few moments, lips pursed. He put a gentle hand on Klaus’s shoulder after. 

“1-10, how’s your pain?” He asked. 

“T-twelve,” Klaus told him. He checked the medicine hook-up, frowning. “I’m not sure that the medicine is still working for you. It happens occasionally when it comes to people with past drug use. The best we can do for you right now would be a light sedation to tackle your elevated heart rate. We will see what we can do from there.” Klaus stayed silent. 

“How does that sound, honey?” Carol asked. Klaus shrugged. She shared a look with the doctor before leaving the room. 

“Carol is getting that sedative now. She will be back shortly for you. Try to stay as calm as you can until then, alright?” The doctor patted Klaus’s shoulder before leaving the room as well. 

“She will be back soon. Everything will be okay soon. Everything will be okay,” Ben told him. Klaus nodded shakily. 

“It hurts so bad, Benny. It hurts so bad.” He whispered. 

“I know, Klaus. It will be okay,” He said again. 

Carol better come back in soon. 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

“He’s not doing very well today,” Carol told them as soon as Diego and Eudora walked by the nurses’ station. They stopped. 

“What do you mean? What’s wrong with him?” Diego stepped closer to the station, fists clenched. Carol held up her palms in surrender. 

“His medicine isn’t working correctly. He had a bit of a meltdown from it earlier. It was causing his heart rate to skyrocket as well. We’ve given him a light sedative that seems to have calmed him down for now. He’s been quiet since,” Carol explained. 

“So he’s drugged,” Diego said, sighing. Eudora laid a hand on his arm. 

“Diego, this is different. Don’t go in there angry,” She told him. He nodded, tense. 

“You go ahead. I’m gonna grab a candy bar for him,” He told her. She nodded, eyes knowing. He turned around, making his way slowly to the snack machine on the other side of the hospital floor. 

He needed a few moments to cool down. As much as he hated to admit it, Eudora was right. He would have probably blown up at Klaus if he went in there too angry. He wasn’t angry at Klaus for needing more drugs. He didn’t even really know what he was mad at. Klaus was definitely at the bottom of the list, though. 

By the time he made it outside of Klaus’s door, he had calmed down enough not to explode at Klaus. He knocked on the door lightly as he entered, announcing his presence with a “hey.” Klaus didn’t move. 

“He hasn’t said anything,” Eudora told him quietly. Diego sat on Klaus’s other side looking over his brother. His chest was moving steadily, but he didn’t move otherwise. After a moment of debate, he gently placed his hand onto Klaus’s. After a moment, Klaus turned his hand over and gripped Diego’s. 

“We’re here for you, bro,” He said gruffly. Eudora grabbed Klaus’s other hand. 

“We’re here for whatever you need,” Eudora agreed. A small smile spread on Klaus’s face. 

“Thanks,” He whispered. His smile dropped after a moment. 

They sat like that for a few minutes in silence. Diego took that time to look over Klaus. The parts of his cheeks that peeked out from under his bandages were blotchy and red. His hair looked greasier than the day before. He definitely needed a bath soon. Diego couldn’t help but stare at the frown on his face. It was so odd to see Klaus without some type of dopey smile or at least looking blissfully drugged out. Right now, he just looked miserable. 

“I brought you a chocolate bar,” Diego finally spoke up. He put the candy into the hand he was holding. “It’s that one with the waffle bits in it.” 

“Thank you,” Klaus said, voice cracking slightly. “My favorite.” 

He held the bar tightly in his hand, but didn’t move to unwrap it. After a moment, Eudora gently took it out of his hand and unwrapped it. She placed it back into his hand and slid her fingers back into his. 

“Share it with me?” Klaus asked quietly. Diego broke a piece of the bar off. 

“I don’t usually eat this crap. Gotta protect the temple, remember. But, since you asked…” 

That slight smile slid back onto Klaus’s face. Diego expected him to joke back, but he stayed quiet. It was unnerving to have him so quiet. Klaus never shut up. Diego popped the chocolate piece in his mouth and broke off another piece. 

“You’ve gotta eat some too, bro, or it’s not sharing.” Klaus tilted his head before taking a small bit. 

“Thanks for the chocolate,” He said after eating the piece. “But I’m not really feeling up to eating.” 

“That’s okay,” Diego told him. He took the bar from Klaus and set it on the meal table. “Just rest, okay? We’ll be here when you wake up.” 

“Okay,” Klaus whispered, voice breaking. “Just don’t leave me.” 

Diego grabbed his little brother’s hand again. “We’ll be right here.” 

Soon, Klaus fell into a fitful sleep.


	7. A Life That's So Demanding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm on a roll again! Enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think!

“What do you mean, infection?” Klaus asked for the third time in a row. Thank god Dave was patient with him. 

“Yes, Klaus. The cuts are your eyes are developing an infection. Sometimes that happens no matter how often we clean it or give your medicine to try to prevent it. Most likely, your time on the streets combined with your drug use has caused your immune system to be nearly nonexistent. With the right treatment, though, your doctor should be able to treat it fairly well,” Dave explained again. He had Klaus’s hands cupped between his own. Klaus felt oddly comforted from the same contact. 

“Didn’t think you could get an infection at the hospital. That’s, like, two opposite things.” He paused as a particularly harsh spasm of pain flashed through his head and face. He groaned out an “Ow.” 

“It happens more often than you would think,” Dave said. “Sometimes the infection begins to take hold before people even get here. We try our best to prevent it but that doesn’t always matter.” 

“Still sucks,” Klaus pouted. He was thankful for his current mood. He didn’t want his time with Dave to be tainted with the bouts of pain and depression that seemed to take hold of him more often than not during his stay. At least he knew why they seemed to be happening so much. 

Dave laughed. “Yes, it most certainly does. Is there anything else that you need to be comfortable? Carol isn’t due in today and your brother won’t be here for another few hours.” 

“Awww, you have to go so soon?” Klaus asked instead of answering Dave. In truth, he wanted nothing more than a nice soothing bath and food that wasn’t from the hospital cafeteria. Oh, and drugs. Lots of nice, mind-numbing drugs. 

“I still have a few minutes left of my break, don’t worry. I just want to make sure that you’re comfortable.” Dave tapped his cheek lightly. “Are you comfortable?” 

“Yay, more time!” Klaus reached out cautiously and tapped Dave’s face until he found his nose. 

“Klaus,” Dave chuckled lightly. “Don’t avoid the question.” 

Klaus blushed. “What question?” 

“Klaus,” He groaned. Klaus put his hands up in surrender. 

“Fine, fine. Hard drugs, please! I’d even settle for some weed.” He could almost feel Dave’s exasperation. 

“You know that’s not what I meant. Do you want something like a snack or a fresh blanket or something to make you feel better?” Dave asked. Klaus’s heart warmed a bit at the offer. He had never really had anyone to dote on him like this. Diego was sweet sometimes but even he was too “manly” to be this sweet. 

“A snack might be good,” he said shyly. He really wanted to eat something appetizing while he actually felt like eating. 

“That’s better,” Dave told him, a smile evident in his voice. “What are we thinking? Lime jello?” 

“Uh…” Klaus didn’t want to say no to anything offered to him. Dave laughed. 

“I’m just kidding, Klaus. There’s a frozen yogurt food truck here today. I can probably run and get some for you. What flavor do you like?”

“Oh, whatever’s fine,” Klaus told him flippantly. Dave hummed. 

“I’ve seen Diego bringing you chocolate. How does that sound?” Klaus couldn’t help but grin. 

“That may be my favorite flavor,” He told Dave, blushing. The chair creaked as Dave stood. 

“Then I will be back with some chocolate frozen yogurt. In a waffle cone, right?” Klaus nodded and Dave left the room. 

Klaus swooned nearly as soon as Dave left. As awful as he felt, his heart was warm with affection. “Ben, I think I’m in love.” 

Ben laughed. 

Neither of them noticed Dave just outside the door. Neither saw the shy grin that overtook Dave’s blushing face. 

______________________________________________________________________________________

Klaus didn’t think that he could feel worse than the day he embarrassingly broke down for all to see. He was definitely wrong. 

The evening after Dave brought him frozen yogurt, his low-grade fever turned into a roaring fire. Diego was sitting with him when he started to feel odd. They were sitting together, talking about their childhood trips to Griddy’s. Klaus found it harder and harder to focus on their conversation. 

“You tired, buddy?” Diego’s voice interrupted his thoughts. He couldn’t even remember what he had been thinking. He turned toward his voice sluggishly, trying to will his mouth to open. 

“Argh,” He managed. Diego moved immediately, sensing that something was wrong. He grabbed Klaus’s hand, but quickly dropped it to feel his forehead. 

“You’re burning up,” He blurted out. Klaus shrugged, head suddenly feeling too heavy to hold up. He let it roll back against his pillow. “I’ll be right back.” 

Things blurred together after that. Everything felt both too hot and too cold. He couldn’t feel his body but at the same time every pain felt like electric shocks. He was just in so much pain but he couldn’t even say anything about it. His mouth wouldn’t work. 

Flashes of people around him went in and out of his consciousness. He thought he saw Diego, Dave, and some of his regular nurses and doctors. He also saw glimpses of his other missing siblings. At one point, he swore he could hear Five calling out to him. He felt like absolute shit. 

After a while, things started to come back into focus. His throbbing face injury pulled him to the surface of his consciousness. He gasped. 

“Ben?” He called out. He heard a sharp intake of breath beside him. 

“Ben’s not here, Klaus,” A tired voice told him. After a moment, he recognized it as Diego. He groaned quietly. 

“Sorry,” He murmured. At another twinge of pain, he gasped again. “What’s going on?” 

“You have a pretty high fever,” Diego told him. “You’ve been hallucinating.” 

“Oh,” Klaus said. In a flash, he realized that he swore he had just been looking at his siblings. He swore he had seen them. 

“I saw you,” He said, voice breaking. He felt a touch hysterical as he continued. “I saw you and-and Dave and-” 

He broke off, crying. Try as he might, he couldn’t put his finger on what Dave had even looked like. It didn’t make sense! Why could he remember looking around? 

“It’s okay, bro.” Diego sounded so sad. “You’re okay.” 

Klaus reached out blindly. He landed on Diego clumsily and, thankfully, Diego embraced him. He held Diego tightly as pain and heat and fuzziness fell over him in waves. He couldn’t tell if it was his imagination as Diego shook slightly under him. He couldn’t seem to catch his breath as he cried on his brother. 

Diego didn’t say anything else as Klaus cried. After a while, the crying slowed down until he drifted off to sleep. Thankfully, this time the hallucinations stayed away. He just hoped he woke up feeling better. 

He knew that wouldn’t happen for a while.


	8. I'll Be Forgiven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I love y'all's comments so much. It means so much to me that y'all like what I write. I also listened to what a few of you said and made this one on the lighter side, although very short. Enjoy!!!

Eudora prided herself on being good at her job. She knew where her strengths and weaknesses laid and she knew exactly how to use that to her advantage. Most of all, she was fantastic at keeping her homelife at home. 

Except when it came to Diego. 

Diego was her weak spot. That had been her main problem at the academy and an embarrassingly large part of her was a little relieved when he was kicked out. She felt bad for her and the circumstances, but she was happy to be able to focus on her training better. That all disappeared when he started showing up at the crime scenes that she was a part of. He made it so hard for her to focus. That was the real reason why she didn’t want him involved; he made it so hard for her to do her job professionally. 

She couldn’t help but feel the same way for the other Hargreeves that she met. Klaus was so full of personality, even stuck in the hospital and as sick as he was. She couldn’t help but think about him while she was working. She found herself getting distracted while filling out paperwork or reading profiles, wondering whether today was a bad day or a good one. Diego took her with him every time that he could. He said that he did it because she helped him, but she wondered how much he knew that it helped her. 

Eudora wanted to help Klaus so much. She had seen a lot of gruesome scenes before. Realistically, seeing Klaus the way she did was probably not technically the worst that she had encountered before. But, she couldn’t stop seeing his face when she found him. The way his eyes looked seemed more like something out of a horror movie. She didn’t even know an injury like that was possible. It haunted her even more that Klaus couldn’t even remember what the man looked like. He was still out there and he could do the same thing to someone else. All of it made her want to reach out and hold Klaus everytime that she saw him. 

She did it sometimes too. On his bad times while he fought the nasty infection that had developed, she would crawl into the bed with him and hold him. After she got over her initial awkwardness of not knowing him, she just wanted to mother him. She had never felt like that with someone. It was strange, but not unwelcome- especially by Klaus. He responded so well to affection. Eudora had the feeling that affection and positive attention was not something that Klaus was used to. She couldn’t help but want to change that. 

When she came into the room, she was glad to see that Klaus was sitting up. That was a good sign that it was probably a good day. The day before had also been a good day. Maybe he was on the upside of his healing. 

She was surprised to hear him talking to someone. He was chattering about Dave, the adorable nurse that had taken a liking to Klaus. She was glad that Dave wasn’t actually working with Klaus or nothing could happen in that department. As she walked into the room, Klaus said, “It’s not that simple, Ben! I don’t know how Dave feels about me!” 

She cleared her throat as she entered the room fully. “Hi Klaus! Diego is just parking the car and bringing up some new snacks for you.”

“Oh, hello dear! How are you doing this fabulous afternoon?” He asked as she gave him a hug and sat down. 

“I’m fine. Work has been great the last few days. How are you feeling? Diego said that you’ve been well lately.” She grabbed his hand and started tracing the back of it in circles. It always seemed to calm him. 

“I am just swell! My infection seems to be nearly gone and I am oh-fficially fever-free.” He shuddered. “And I thought withdrawals were bad.” 

“That’s great!” Then, before she could stop herself, “Who’s Ben?”

Klaus stiffened. “What?” 

She faltered. Maybe she had heard him wrong? “When I was walking in… I heard you talking to someone and you called them Ben?” 

Klaus turned his head and tilted it. After a moment, he nodded and turned back to her. “How much do you know about The Academy?” 

Eudora blinked. “A little. I saw a bit of it in the news when I was a kid. I don’t know much beyond what Diego lets out every now and again. Why?” 

“Wellllll,” Klaus drawled it out. He paused. “So you don’t know the different powers?” 

Eudora started to shake her head before she remembered herself. “No, I don’t.” 

“Well,” Klaus laughed. He held his palms up towards her. “I’m kinda like a human Ouija board.” 

She looked at his palms, where his “hello” and “goodbye” tattoos laid. The meaning of them finally hit her. She had wondered idly a few times what they meant exactly, but she hadn’t really spent much time on them. Now she realized why. “Oh.” 

He laughed. “Oh, indeed!” 

“Klaus…” She started. She stopped for a moment before starting again. “So you’re a medium?” 

“Reluctantly,” he drawled. “It’s more like the ghosts are always here screaming and I have to listen. Unless I am spectacularly plastered. Then, it’s just Ben.” 

“What makes Ben different?” She asked. Klaus moved his head off to the side again before smirking. 

“So Diego enver mentioned that brother.” Eudora blinked before flashing back to the news when she was a kid. She remembered one of the Umbrella Academy kids dying but couldn’t be sure exactly what happened with that nor could she remember his name. Did that mean…? 

“Your dead brother follows you around?” She asked hesitantly. Klaus nodded. 

“More like he hangs around and mother hens me but, yes. Do you… do you believe me?” Klaus sounded so small suddenly. 

“Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I?” Klaus laughed bitterly and opened his mouth to reply. 

“Because we never did,” Diego said, entering the room. They both jumped. Diego walked over, sitting beside Klaus and laying his hand on Klaus’s forearm. “We’ve never really listened to you, have we? All this time, I always thought you were just trying to get attention. You have all of our attention now and you’re still saying it. So, I guess it’s not just… for that.”

“Aww, you do care!” Klaus sounded light, but his voice was thick with emotion. He turned his arm over and grasped Diego’s for a moment. Eudora smiled at Diego, proud. Diego didn’t look at her, eyes dancing over the room instead. 

“Where is he?” He asked. 

“I don’t know,” Klaus snorted. “I can’t see dumbass.” 

Diego reddened. Eudora pointed over his shoulder. “He keeps turning his head that way?”

Diego nodded, face still red. Klaus ducked his head for a moment before smiling. “Ben says hi.” 

The two started talking back and forth, Klaus dictating Ben’s part of the conversation. Eudora watched them as they conversed, enjoying the happiness that seemed to roll off of them. She couldn’t help but think about how lucky she was to have them. As much as it pained her to admit it, she needed Diego in her life. Klaus, too. They both added something that she didn’t even realize that she was missing until the accident. 

Maybe she could reconsider keeping Diego off of her mind.


	9. A Love That's So Demanding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so awful at updating regularly. Anyway, y'all were asking for more sweet Dave time. Enjoy!

Dave liked to pretend that he didn’t wear his heart on his sleeve. He actively tried to ignore his heartstrings that were tugged by every little thing. It was a little hard to deny when he thought back to his past, however. Since he was young, he would always take in stray animals and help anyone who asked for it. He had a new cat or dog every few months that he would nurse back to health and then find a fitting home for them. His friends always came to them for advice or when they would need something, like spare food for lunches or rides to wherever they were going. Dave liked to pretend that he didn’t wear his heart on his sleeves, but his actions always spoke too loud for that to work. 

When he got out of high school, he didn’t quite know what to do with his life. His family wasn’t poor growing up, but his parents didn’t go to college. His dad worked hard as an electrician, but he wasn’t educated. Dave knew his dad especially expected him to go to college and learn to do something that made a lot of money. That pressure was even worse once his dad died when he was 11. So, he did. He thought about how much he loved to help people and decided to become a nurse. It soon became his passion as he realized his ability to help others and care for them the way that he cared for those animals growing up. The only problem that he had was not caring too much about his patients. 

He worked in an ER for a couple of years after he graduated from nursing school. Of course he enjoyed his time there, helping floods of people mend and feel even marginally better. The big issue came with the people that he couldn’t help. It killed him a little inside everytime a patient died or got worse under his care. Worse yet were the return patients. He hated to see the ones that came in and out constantly, especially since they were usually the drug users or abuse victims. They hurt the worst. 

The last straw came to him with the fourth visit of one particular drug user. Dave had seen the man three times already that year and it was only July. The previous time had only been two and a half weeks prior. Dave remembered him because of how striking he looked. Despite being brought in for overdoses, he looked beautiful. It was as if health issues hadn’t affected him, not really. The pallor of his skin was always a glowing paleness instead of looking sickly. When he would wake, his green eyes always looked so deep and thoughtful despite their frantic darting. This fourth time, though, he looked dead. 

Dave couldn’t bear the ashen sheen on his face. The frequent overdoses and hospital visits had to be weighing on him. His eyes, once they opened, looked lifeless instead of thoughtful. Dave couldn’t believe how different this man looked than the previous times. Dave made a mental note in his head of the beautiful man with the odd name: Klaus Hargreeves. The name sounded vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t be sure. Either way, he noted the name and put in his notice that same night. He could not continue to see these people that he grew fond of die, like this beautiful Klaus. 

He began working at another hospital across the town. He signed on for the radiology and pathology unit, usually helping the phlebotomist take blood when needed and mostly helping to transport and assist those in for testings. Typically, they had him helping the pediatric cases. Turns out he was surprisingly good with the kids and helping to distract them, a fact that he attributed to the younger siblings that he helped raise growing up with working parents. He would still sometimes see a few patients from the ER, but the patients that he did see where rarely repeats and almost always lived. The job allowed him to help patients just as much as before without all of the risks. In the back of his mind, he still thought about Klaus Hargreeves and whether he was still alive. 

On one of the few days that he was not assigned to helping the pediatric cases, he heard the name again. Or, rather, he ran right smack into Klaus Hargreeves himself when he walked right up to his wheelchair and saw the beautiful man there himself. Except, Klaus was hidden behind awful injuries to his face covered in a multitude of bandages. He transported Klaus as his duty called and couldn’t help being just as captivated as before. He found himself visiting the man again and again as he got to know a version of him that never came out during his previous stints in the ER. But, he knew that he was walking a dangerous line. 

After visiting with Klaus for a while and having those feelings grow, he decided to go to his supervisor with his feelings. The guilt from becoming so close to someone who is still technically the hospital’s patient weighed heavy on him. He told his supervisor, a very caring and understanding person, how he had met Klaus and had only helped him once at this hospital, but that he couldn’t help himself with visiting him again and again and getting quite close to him. He didn’t want any conflict of interest. 

“Hmm, “ His supervisor hummed. “It is not exactly an ideal situation. And not very appropriate on paper. He’s only been under your care once, right?”

“Yes, just once. During this visit. I may or may not have helped him in a previous job?” His voice drifted up at the end. This was not going to be good for him at all. 

His supervisor stared at him for a moment, eyes searching. Then she said, “What day was the time you helped him?” 

He told her the day. She nodded and scribbled it down. “This conversation didn’t happen, alright? All of your cases for the next bit will be with the kiddos. You’re one of our best and I’m not losing you.” She paused. “Listen, I know this is going to sound a little weird. But, I can see people. Like, really see them. I like to think that I have a good view into people’s souls. And your soul, my dear, is nearly white from how pure it is. I trust you to make the right choices and not abuse your power.” 

He beamed at her. “Thank you so much for understanding. I really care about him, I really do.” 

She winked at him, smiling back. “Just let me know when you go on your first date.” 

With that, she puttered away from him to conduct her other duties. He couldn’t help doing a small victory jiggle as he spun around to head towards his time clock. He had timed the conversation to line up with the end of his shift just in case he was fired. At least then he would have made money that day. Whistling lowly, he made his way to the room that he most frequented now that he visits Klaus once he gets off in the evening. 

“Hello, hello,” He called out as he entered the room. He stopped short when he noticed a figure beside the bed. Carol, the nurse that Klaus had taken to the most (and Dave knew the feeling was reciprocated) stood at his bedside holding a bedpan. Judging from the paleness of Klaus' face and the light sheen of sweat on his forehead, Klaus was having a hard time again. 

“Hello dear,” Carol called out softly. Klaus frowned, shoulders shaking ever so slightly. Dave stridded the rest of the way into the room, going to the other side of the bed from Carol. He grabbed the damp cloth that Carol must have had prepared and gently wiped Klaus’s face. 

“What happened?” Dave asked quietly. “You’ve been doing so well.” 

“He started on a different kind of antibiotic today. The other one wasn’t doing the job well enough for the doctor,” Carol informed him. “It is not sitting well with him. I’d say that he probably won’t have another dose.” 

Klaus groaned, leaning forward and shoulders jumping. Carol held the bedpan under his chin while Dave rubbed his back gentle. After longer than Dave was comfortable with, Klaus collapsed back onto his pillows. 

“Are you alright for now dear?” She asked. Klaus nodded minisculely. She patted his shoulder once and left the room with the bedpan. Dave dipped the cloth into the bowl of cool water and began running it gently up and down Klaus’s arms. The movement comforted Klaus more than running it over his face. Klaus laid still against the pillows, face still ashen. 

“Tell me about your day,” Klaus whispered. So Dave did. He told him about the little boy from earlier today that he had a hard time convincing to go to the MRI room. He spoke about the little girl that requested a lollipop in return for her bloodwork (he delivered). He kept speaking as Carol came in quietly and left the bedpan beside Dave. As he spoke, he noticed the small dip of Klaus’s head and the small way his breath evened out that meant that Klaus had fallen asleep. He didn’t pause his ministrations, knowing that stopping may cause Klaus to wake. He glanced at the monitor, showing a slight fever. Maybe he wasn’t getting as better as Dave thought. 

He tried not to wear his heart on his sleeve, but it was hard when his heart laid in front of him, hurting. He couldn’t bring himself to care.


	10. Is it Hard Understanding?

Klaus didn’t understand why he always got the shit end of the stick. The only reason that he wasn’t the most pitiful sibling was because Ben had literally died and couldn’t speak to any of his siblings besides Klaus. And Diego now, at least partially. But Klaus had always felt the unluckiest of his siblings. His father just loved to torture him more than his siblings, loved singling him out constantly. Even when they got older, Klaus was the only one without his shit together. 

And now he had the shit end of the stick, in the hospital, blind and helpless. He couldn’t even seem to heal properly. First came that infection, then the medicine that his doctor gave him to combat it didn’t work, nor did the second or third one. He was on his fourth now and this one was certainly the worst. 

He groaned pitifully as another wave of nausea crashed over him. Dave sat beside him, fingers resting lightly on his hand. He didn’t have anything left to expel from his stomach, so at least he couldn’t throw up anymore. His doctor had insisted that he troop through the side effects from this particular medicine. He didn’t have a lot more to choose from. 

“I know, honey. It’ll pass,” Dave crooned to him quietly. Through his discomfort, he couldn’t help but feel a small thrill at the pet name. Dave had taken to coming to see him more and more often the past week. Klaus felt a stronger pull from him than he had previously; he was grateful for this small haven from this whole nightmare. 

“He’s got it bad, Klaus,” Ben teased gently from his other side. Ben had taken to doing that a lot lately. Being gentle. Klaus wasn’t used to that. “You should see his puppy dog eyes.” 

Klaus smiled slightly, the thought giving him a bit of warmth. His lips cracked a little at the movement. He whispered, “Water, please?” 

Dave indulged him, placing the straw between his lips so he could sip on the liquid. He silently willed his stomach not to revolt against the small amount of liquid. He would be surprised if it listened. 

“Why don’t you try napping, Klaus? You might feel better when you wake up,” Dave told him. He shrugged. 

“Maybe,” He whispered back. He tried taking deep breaths to soothe the rolling of his stomach, attempting to slow his brain down enough for him to fall asleep. It must have worked, because the next thing that he knew was that he was floating. 

Klaus started to wake up in what felt like moments later. At first, all he could hear was indistinct mumbling. After a bit of time, the mumblings began to come into focus. He heard Diego first. 

“W-h-h-what does that even mean?” He sounded angrier than he had since he first started coming to see Klaus.   
“It means that we’re running out of options for him,” A feminine voice announced back. After a second, Klaus vaguely recognized the voice as his doctor, Dr. Elliot. After another second, the words she said hit him. 

Out of options? 

“How can you run out of options? This is a-a-a hospital!” Diego bit back. Dr. Elliot sighed. 

“It is a very unique situation. I have never seen an injury like this one. The way that his body is trying to heal it is odd. At this point, I would go as far as to say his body is rejecting itself. The options that we have left are… limited to say the least. And dangerous,” His doctor said. 

“They’re still options, though,” Diego said desperately. 

“Options with the best one being to remove his eyes?” Dr. Elliot proposed dryly. 

Any sleep that clung to him dissolved. Klaus made a keening noise in the back of his throat and struggled to sit up. After a moment of struggling, he felt gentle hands push him back and help with the button that set him bed up. Dave’s soothing voice hushed him. 

“My eyes?” Klaus asked brokenly. He felt another hand clasp his own. It must have been Diego. He could hear one of his monitors beeping rapidly beside him and, belatedly, he realized that he was hyperventilating. 

“Klaus, it will be okay. We’ll be here for you. It’s fine. Shh, deep breaths for me. Deep breaths, baby,” Dave coached him steadily. Dave took his hand and placed it on Dave’s chest, mining deep and steady breaths. Diego followed suit after a few moments. He heard Dr. Elliot murmur something about sedition, but Klaus recovered from his disordered breathing sooner than he thought that he would. Distantly, he knew it was from the help he was receiving that was never an option before, at least not from anyone but incorporeal Ben. 

“Are you with us, Klaus?” Dr. Elliot asked once the beeping slowed as well as his breathing. He must have made some noise of confirmation, because she continued on. “Very good, hun. Now, what I was telling your brother and your b- and Dave is about this infection that has set in for you. We thought you may have been passed the worst part some time ago just after we began treating the infection. However, the infection is refusing to budge. At this point, we believe that your body is so busy fighting off the infection and trying to heal as well as adjusting to your lack of sight that it is causing you to essentially fight yourself. It’s causing you to reject the medicine that we have put you on and preventing the infection from being healed. We have a few options on what we can do. Would you like to hear those now or do you need another minute?” 

Klaus fought to understand what she was saying to him. His own body wasn’t working with him? That was typical of him. He couldn’t even heal right. Of course. He could just hear Reggie’s voice in his head, barking out his disappointment. He finally found his voice,”Go ahead.” 

“Are you sure?” She asked hesitantly. Klaus shrugged. She paused, but continued. “One option that we have already been doing is trying out different medicines that may be accepted by your body. We haven’t found one yet and it’s truly just making you more sick. Another option is by trying to let your body run its natural course without any medicines beside some pain relief. That one is the riskiest one that we have for you, but it is an option. And, of course…” 

“You can gouge my eyes out,” Klaus filled in. He felt the two on either side of him flinch and he didn’t doubt that everyone else did as well. It felt like the room grew colder with the words, but that could also be the fever. “Sounds super fun.” 

“Klaus-” Ben choked out. With a start, Klaus realized the cold was actually just partially phasing through him. Klaus didn’t blame him, couldn’t blame him honestly. He could have used a Ben hug. 

Dr. Elliot began explaining the details of how they would proceed if they decided to remove his eyes. Klaus listened with a distant kind of horror, wishing himself out of existence. Fear and the urge to throw up bubbled in his stomach. Before she could get too far into it, Klaus began shaking his head. “I-I can’t do this. Not right now.” 

Dr. Elliot stopped speaking. “I’ll let you think about it a bit more. I will be back in a few hours for further discussion. Try to get some rest, okay?”

With that, she left the room. Klaus was left shaking, stomach jumping in a way that he was all too familiar with. As if reading his mind, Dave placed a bedpan under his chin just in time. After dispelling the water that he managed to drink before going to sleep earlier, he fell back against his bed once more. 

He really did get the shit end of the stick, huh?


	11. Awake and Unafraid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been on a roll the last little bit with these chapters. I have the rest of the story planned out, so I have about 4 more chapters planned, maybe five. There were also probably be more that I write as a sequel, but this story only has the 4 or so left. Also! I want to thank everyone who has been leaving comments and positive criticism! It really helps me think about what I should and should not include. Anyway, enjoy the chapter! It's Diego and Dave bonding time!:)

Diego could hardly believe what had happened the last few hours. He came to the hospital with hopes of seeing Klaus and spending time with him and Ben. A part of him hoped to see Dave as well, but that was the big brother in him that just liked to see someone supporting Klaus. What he hadn’t expected was to come into Klaus sleeping and Dave looking as worried as he did. 

“What’s wrong with him?” Diego asked as he entered the room and sat beside his prone brother. The frown on Dave’s face deepened. 

“He hasn’t been able to keep anything down today at all. I just got him to go to sleep a bit ago, but he’s been restless. I’m worried about him,” Dave told him. Dave paused. “I-I know that it’s only been a couple of weeks since I started coming by regularly, but I don’t want to lose him. Not before we’ve even…” 

Diego nodded. “I know what you mean. Klaus… I know how he looks to people. It’s not like I didn’t grow up seeing all kinds of eyes on him. I’ve met a few of the guys that he's been with. They’re not exactly kind to him. But, you are. You treat him like-like…” 

Diego stopped, realizing that he was rambling a bit. He had found himself doing that a lot lately, since Klaus had landed in the hospital. He was usually to Eudora when he would talk to her about Klaus and Ben and all of these new feelings that seemed to come out of nowhere. He couldn’t help feeling so deeply about everything with Klaus lately. He spooked him a bit. 

“I get it.” Dave gave him a half-smile. “Let’s just say that I am no stranger to Klaus’s life before the attack. And you’re right. He is, well… I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t drawn to how beautiful he was the first time that I saw him. But, now, I just want to get to know him more and more everyday. There’s a part of me that just feels like I need to be around him. Frankly, I’ve never felt more drawn to spending the rest of my life with someone. I’m not even one to say anything like that! But… you get what I’m trying to say. I think I’ve seen it with you as well.” 

Diego stared. He hadn’t expected Dave to say anything close to that. He had thought that maybe he was the only one that felt like that. He shocked him a little, to hear those words out loud from someone else. And that Dave felt the same way. 

“He’s always been my little brother,” Diego told him. “I’ve always felt like I needed to protect him. Now, it feels like I can’t even go more than a couple of days without coming by to see him and make sure that he’s safe. I-” 

Diego cut off shaking his head. Now that he had heard the words out loud from someone else, he occurred to him just how weird his feelings had been lately. How strong his connection felt to Klaus now. He thought that part of it was his ability to speak to Ben again, but that couldn’t have been the reason if Dave felt the same way. Was it… was it a power thing? 

Just as the thought occurred to him, Dr. Elliot entered the room. Then, he had the shock of learning about the different options that Klaus had moving forward. Removing his eyes? That was… that was harsh. Shock clung to him like a blanket. 

“Dr. Elliot is right, Klaus. You should get some sleep,” Dave told Klaus gently. Klaus shrugged, staying uncharacteristically quiet. He had been doing that a lot lately, a fact that had nagged at the back of Diego’s head. As much as he had always complained about how loud Klaus was and how much he liked to chatter, he missed the noise now that it was gone. 

“Dave is right,” Diego said. He squeezed Klaus’s hand, knowing how much Klaus loved physical affection. “And what does Ben say about it?” 

Klaus had been sure to show off how much Ben “nagged the shit out of him,” as Klaus had put it. Ben was always encouraging Klaus to do whatever he could to get healthier. As Klaus put it, Ben had been like that before the attack as well. He was a mother hen, as Klaus put it. 

Diego didn’t mind hearing about it. 

He also loved how excited and eager Klaus would get when Diego mentioned Ben. Diego knew tha the had majorly messed up in the past by not believing that Ben was there. He tried to make up for it now, not that it was hard for Diego to speak to his brother again. He missed him. 

As usual, a smile lit up Klaus’s face at the mention of Ben. his voice was a bit brighter as he said, “Ben agrees with you.” 

“Well, why do you listen to us and relax? We’ll be right here when you wake up again,” Dave said. He added, “And we will talk some more about everything once you wake up. You just need to rest more. We shouldn’t have woken you up from your nap.” 

“Fine,” Klaus said. He felt along the buttons on the bed for the one that lowered the bed back. Diego beat him there, lowering the bed for him. Once it was at a comfortable incline, Klaus settled back and turned his head to the side and settled down. 

Dave and Diego remained quiet as they waited to Klaus to doze off to sleep. It was always a toss up for whether Klaus would have a hard time going to sleep or not. They had learned the hard way that Klaus would not say anything if they were keeping him awake. 

After some time, Klaus’s breathing evened out and his head seemed to sink lower. Diego deemed it safe to speak after he lightly squeezed Klaus’s hand and received no movement in return. He gently removed his hand from Klaus’s and resumed the conversation from before. “How much do you know about… us?” 

Dave raised an eyebrow. “Us meaning what, exactly?” 

“The Academy?” Diego offered. At Dave’s blank look, he continued. “I know you’ve seen his last name. I didn’t realize that you hadn’t put two and two together. How much do you know about the Umbrella Academy?” 

“Oh,” Dave blinked owlishly. “I know about Klaus seeing ghosts. And I know that you’re all adopted. Honestly, I hadn’t looked that into it as a kid. It kinda bothered me seeing kids my age doing all of that.” 

Diego nodded, sitting back. “At least you saw through it. You know that we all have powers, right?” Dave nodded. “Sometimes we are extra powers, though they weren’t really spoken about much to the public. I can hold my breath indefinitely underwater, for example. Not all of us have extra powers. Ben didn't.” 

“What about your other siblings?” Dave blurted. He looked embarrassed as soon as the words came out of his mouth. “I’m sorry. Klaus always seems edgy when he talks about the rest of your family. I’ve told him all about mine, but he always changes the subject when they come up.” 

Diego waved a hand dismissively. “We’ve never really been that close. It’s… weird having 6 siblings. Number one, Luther has super strength and a really fast metabolism. He heals pretty quickly because of that. Number two is me, and you know my powers. Number-” 

“You’re numbered? And I only know the breath holding thing. You two have never said.” Dave looked less embarrassed and more interested now. Diego grinned, eager to show off. 

“Watch this,” He told Dave. He pulled one of the small knives that he had hidden in his boot. Looking around the room, he pointed to the couch in the corner. He called out where he would be sending the knife and threw it. Of course, it ended up exactly where he wanted it to. Next, he pulled a quarter out of his pocket and pointed at the light switch. He threw the coin and switched the lights off. Then, he threw another coin to turn it back on. “Pretty cool, huh?” 

Dave looked bewildered. “Is it telekinesis?” 

“Nope!” Diego walked across the room to retrieve his knife. “I can control projectiles.” 

“Nice,” Dave agreed. “But what about the numbers thing?” 

Diego’s face darkened. He had been hoping to avoid that question. He shouldn’t have used the numbers to begin with. “When we were adopted, we were given numbers. It wasn’t until we got our mom that we were given names. I didn’t even mean to use them. Old habits, huh?” 

Dave looked disgusted. “Your father was something else. That’s awful. What do you other siblings do?” 

“Number three, Allison, can rumor anyone to do what she says. It’s kind of like mind control. She just says ‘I heard a rumor’ and she can make you do just about anything. Of course, you know number four’s powers.” Diego gestured to Klaus. “Number Five was able to jump through space. He was obsessed with jumping through time as well.” 

“Five doesn’t have a name?’ Dave asked. Diego shook his head. 

“He didn’t want one. I think he thought that he was too cool for one. He was also ridiculously smart as well. It was part of his powers, honestly. I still haven’t met someone as smart as him, not that I would admit that to anyone else.” Diego hesitated. “He disappeared several years ago, when we were thirteen. Left one day after arguing with our father after time travel. Hopefully the bastard was able to. Has Klaus told you about Ben?” 

“Not really,” Dave said. “Just that Ben was his voice of reason.” 

“Ben,” Diego paused. “It’s kind of hard to describe what Ben could do. He had this… creature? That came out of a portal in his stomach. It was strong, could kill a room in minutes.”

“How did he..?” Dave started to ask. He shook his head. “Nevermind. I’m not sure if he is okay with us talking about it.”

A wave of warmth passed through Diego’s chest. He was very glad that Dave didn’t ask. He really didn’t feel like getting into it with him. He sat back, letting Dave soak up what he had told him. 

“Who’s number seven?” Dave asked. Diego’s defenses immediately flew up. How did he know about Vanya? He must have read her book. 

“How did you know there were seven of us?” He asked archly. 

“You said that you had six siblings? That does make seven, right?” Dave looked shocked at the defensive shield Diego threw up. At the reply, Diego deflected slightly. 

“Oh,” He said. “Number seven is Vanya. She’s ordinary, doesn’t have any powers. She wrote this book, about a year ago. It was all about her and her suffering and how badly she thought of all of us. I thought, when you mentioned her…” 

Dave shook his head. “ I wasn’t lying when I said that I know basically nothing about your family. Now that you mention it, I think I remember hearing something about the book. But I haven’t read it.” 

“Right.” An awkward silence fell. Diego struggled to remember why he had begun speaking about his family in the first place. Before he could recall, Klaus started to thrash in his sleep. He had been having a lot of nightmares lately. Before either of them could begin to soothe him, small, high pitched whimpers fell from his throat. As they scrambled to soothe him back to sleep, he bolted upright.

“No!” The scream ripped from his throat. His chest heaved with labored breaths. “No no no nononono.” 

“Shh, baby, it’s okay,” Dave told him. Klaus whipped his head back and forth in response. 

“No!” He was still shouting. “I don’t want it. I don’t want to look like them!” 

Diego’s blood went cold. “What do you mean, Klaus?” 

“I will not look like a ghost. I’m not having the surgery. No more medicine. Nothing!” 

Diego could do nothing but look at Klaus hopelessly. Nothing?


	12. There's Nothing I Can Say To Change That Part

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one turned out much darker than I originally planned, but I actually like the difference. That being said, please see the end of the chapter for trigger warnings! Let me know that you think. I love your comments!!! :)

He was floating through the darkness, not enough light to be able to see anything in front of him. The place felt shockingly familiar, though he couldn’t quite place his finger on why. He couldn’t remember what brought it to that moment nor what was propelling him forward. Instead, he just listened to that instinct to follow. For what felt like years, he continued forward. Part of him wondered why the sun hadn’t come up yet. Why the darkness still clung to the edges of his vision. There was something that he was supposed to remember… right?

Eventually he began to hear something. After some time, the something turned into distant moans. He knew that sound, didn’t he? Why couldn’t he place it? It tickled the back of his mind, begging to bring out some memory that would rather stay put. What was happening again? 

“KLAUS!” A particular loud moan broke through some invisible barrier. He flinched as the others followed, shrieking voices that begged him for attention and help. 

“Klaus! Help me, Klaus!” 

“Why, Klaus?” 

“Klaus?” 

“KLAUS!” 

“HELP ME!” 

All of the screams pierced his gut sharply. Why were they screaming at him? He was just as lost as they were. He didn’t understand what was happening anymore than they did. They weren’t special and neither was he. 

“I CAN'T HELP YOU!” He bellowed. The voices went silent for a moment and he reveled in the peace. Sadly, the moment was fleeting. The voices around him began shrieking and groaning again, but something felt different. With a muted jolt, Klaus realized that he had joined them. He was moaning his own grievances out to whoever could hear him. He wanted help too! 

Suddenly, the darkness rescinded so he could see everything in sharp focus. He was looking at a ghastly figure about the same height as him. In fact, the creature in front of him could have been his twin, with the same hair and tattoos. But, this thing couldn’t be him. It looked horrific, with gouged out eyes, bloodied and hollow. It screamed in pain and looked every bit as horrible as the rest of the ghosts that followed him around. The creature couldn’t be him. He was alive and well and had full use of both of his eyes. He wasn’t- he couldn’t be-

“No!” The scream ripped from his throat. He was awake now, hyperventilating with the forcefulness of his dream. He couldn’t breathe! “No no no nononono.”

Dave murmured something beside him, but he couldn’t hear him over his own ragged gasps and terror-filled thoughts. He shook his head, trying to clear it.

“No!” He was still shouting. “I don’t want it. I don’t want to look like them!”

“What do you mean, Klaus?” Diego asked him, sounding tense. Klaus flinched at the words.

“I will not look like a ghost. I’m not having the surgery. No more medicine. Nothing!” He started sobbing, eyes burning with the effort. Dave stroked his arm, most likely trying to calm him down. The touch made his skin crawl, the remnants of the nightmare clinging to him. He didn’t have the heart to make him stop. Not when he was being so kind. 

“I-I-I’m getting Carol,” Diego stuttered out. The chair scrapped loudly as he pushed it back and stood up. Klaus reached out towards him. 

“No! Don’t do that!” He shook his head, trying to quell his panic. “I’m fine. It’s fine. Don’t-don’t bother her?”

The chair scrapped again as Diego sat down wordlessly. He silently grasped his hand that was still outstretched. Klaus could feel the emotions rolling off of him, the struggle that Diego was holding inside. 

“You’re scaring them,” Ben told him softly. He flinched at words, picturing the zombie-like figure of himself from his nightmare. He heard Ben wince. “Not like that. They’re afraid to lose you, dumbass.” 

Klaus shook his head again, still trying to calm his racing heart and rapid breathing. He couldn’t seem to catch a breath. He used the hand from the arm that Dave was stroking to rub at his chest. The pressure faded microscopically. 

“What’s wrong?” Dave asked. 

“Can’t breath.” The words fell from his lips almost silently. This time, Dave stood up. He was quiet for a minute, not moving far from the bed. 

“I’m getting Carol,” Dave announced. He left the room without another word. Klaus felt the cool presence of Ben just barely touching him take Dave’s place. 

“Klaus, what did you mean by nothing?” Diego asked. 

Ben groaned. “Not now, Diego.” 

“I can’t,” Klaus said simply. Diego didn’t press farther. 

Klaus felt like his head was full of static. He was sure that if he could see, his vision would be blurry. He tried to push through it, but he knew that he was being pulled under into unconsciousness. He didn’t even last until Dave came back before he went under again. 

__________________________________________________________________________

Ben could shake the strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was the most that he had felt in his stomach since he had died and stopped having to curb the Horror. He felt like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop with Klaus. Maybe he was. 

On top of the feeling that his stomach was on the verge of dropping, he felt a plethora of emotions for what Klaus had decided. On one hand, he knew exactly how Klaus was feeling. Ben could see the horrible ghosts that floated around him the few instances that Klaus was sober. Most of them were horrific looking, and Ben knew that he was lucky not to have died in the same way that they did. Klaus was afraid of looking anywhere close to the way that they looked. Honestly, Ben understood that and his heart hurt to even think about that. 

He also felt absolutely pissed that Klaus seemed to have given up. 

When the doctor had explained what needed to be done for Klaus to heal, he had felt this terrible yearning. Since becoming a ghost, he had not wanted to hug and comfort Klaus more than in that moment. Hell, that was the first time that he had gotten that close to Klaus since becoming a ghost. Neither one of them liked the tingly cold feeling that came with Klaus going through his skin. But, he couldn’t resist getting as close to Klaus as possible. As close to comforting as possible. 

And he had the audacity to just give up? Klaus couldn’t die. Klaus couldn’t just give up and stop living! He was already taking a turn for the worse- judging by the wheeze from his chest, the infection was affecting the rest of his body as well. Ben wanted to shake some sense into him, yell at him until he understood his importance and why he couldn’t just give up and become a ghost anyway. Why did Klaus think that was any different>

As Ben watched Carol fuss over Klaus’s unconscious body, placing something under his nose and securing it with tape, he let those emotions roll over him one by one. Fear. Anger. Panic. Sympathy. Love. More fear. Even more anger. But not acceptance. He couldn’t accept this the same way that Klaus seemed to have. And, he wasn’t going to let Klaus accept death the way that Ben had. He wasn’t. 

He waited in the corner as they settled Klaus into a comfortable position on the bed. Carol explained to Dave and Diego (and, unbeknownst to her, Ben) about what was happening with Klaus. She told them how the last set of medicine given to Klaus did occasionally have the side effect of causing lung issues. From the sound of his lungs and the way his oxygen levels were on a decline, he was most likely developing one such problem. They would do tests as soon as possible to confirm, but the thing that she had placed under his nose would help for now. They all looked at each other grimly, Klaus’s words from earlier today echoing. 

“Should he wake up soon?” Diego asked. Carol smiled patiently. 

“It’s possible. You still have plenty of time before the end of visiting hours, so you should be able to speak to him more, dear.” Carol double checked all of the machines hooked up to Klaus and checked all of his vitals again. 

“He-” Dave looked pained. “He said something before I left. He-” 

Ben watched him struggle to get the words out. Good. He needed someone on his side to fight Klaus’s decision. Dave would be able to talk some sense into him better than DIego could. 

“We will talk about it when he wakes okay,” Carol told him knowingly. Dave nodded wordlessly. 

Carol soon left, reminding them again that Klaus would go for more tests sooner rather than later. Dave and Diego were left in silence as the door shut behind them. Ben watched them watch Klaus and Ben watched Klaus too. He had a feeling that they were all thinking something similar. The silence drew on. 

Before anyone said anything, Klaus began to stir. He moaned almost silently, reaching up to pull at the tube under his nose. Dave grabbed his hand gently, pulling it away from his face. 

“Wha-” Klaus mumbled. His nose scrunched up, no doubt trying to dislodge the foreign object from his face. The wheeze was still there, but less prominent now. 

“It’s a nasal cannula,” Dave explained. “It’s to help you breathe better.”

“Hmm,” Klaus hummed. Ben recognized the tone of Klaus struggling to completely wake. Despite the anger he felt, the sound pulled at his loose heart strings. He just wanted to help him!

“You’re going to die,” Ben said from across the room. Klaus froze, head moving in his direction. Diego followed the movement, looking around in a futile attempt to locate his invisible brother. “You’re going to die if you don’t let them help you.” 

“What’s Ben saying?” Diego asked. Klaus didn’t say anything. “Klaus?” 

“I’m not doing it,” Klaus repeated quietly. “I’m tired of the damn medicine and I am not looking like a zombie. I’m not doing it.” 

Diego looked confused for a moment, darting his eyes to the corner where Ben crouched. Then, a lightbulb went off. “Ben doesn’t agree with you?” 

“It doesn’t matter,” Klaus told him. “I’m not going to change my mind.” 

“You have to!” Ben exploded. “I am not going to sit here and watch you throw your life away! You’re going to die if you don’t let them help you and damn it I don’t want to see it!” 

“Then, go, Ben!” Klaus half-yelled back, the sound weak. He coughed before continuing. “If you don’t want to see it, then go! I can’t help that you-” 

He cut off coughing again. Dave rubbed his shoulder, shooting a concerned glance at Diego. Diego just looked shocked at the exchange frowning at Klaus struggling to breathe again. Once Klaus stopped coughing, he sagged against his pillows once more. 

“It’s okay, Klaus,” Diego told him quietly. “We’re-we’re not going to m-make you do anything.” 

Ben scoffed. He couldn’t stand to be with this right now. He couldn’t believe Klaus would just throw his life away like this. He should know better, have a better insight into why he shouldn’t throw his life away. 

Klaus knew how much Ben regretted killing himself. Why would Klaus decide to do so anyway?

Ben left the room before he could yell as such at Klaus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: slight gore, mentions of self-harm and mentions of suicide.


End file.
